If you want to be creating, create your own characters, your own settings, and your own circumstances. Using someone else's is just not very creative at all.
You should take a look at the comic book Fables. It has a pretty unique twist on classic fables that are all in the public domain...but I suppose you would think it's not very creative at all.
I can only imagine what Bill Willingham could do with some other characters that aren't in the Public Domain, like Mickey Mouse.

Are they purchasing anything though? I was under the impression that everything you buy relating to music and movies was only a license. Sure...you own the physical disc but you don't own the movie itself...and you don't have the right to distribute it as you see fit.